Parker & Wenner,  Litigation Attorneys MN has a proven track record of successfully handling a wide variety of complex business litigation matters for both plaintiffs and defendants. Our business litigation attorneys in MN create opportunities and solve problems for our clients by aggressive negotiation, mediation, and the effective use of litigation. Our business litigation attorneys bring years of experience and proven success in representing clients having diverse business interests. We both initiate and defend a broad range of business litigation actions, always with the same guiding principle: to achieve optimal results for our clients quickly and cost effectively.  In addition to our substantial experience in the courtroom, our attorneys frequently help clients resolve their disputes in mediations and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
When litigation is the only way to resolve a conflict, our litigators know how to win. More than one-third of the firm’s attorneys litigate matters involving:

• Contracts
• Business Transactions
• International Trade
• Shareholder/Partnership Disputes
• Real estate
• Securities
• Technology and intellectual property

In each of these areas, we have the resources and experience needed to help you develop and pursue sound legal strategies.
When building a defense, we keep clients in the decision-making loop to help ensure that litigation decisions and business decisions are compatible. We do this through a combination of budgeting, reporting, and risk analysis that builds trust, instills confidence, and underscores our commitment to your business goals.
We have the experience and resources to handle the largest, most complex cases but can keep the small cases small as well. We maintain an in-house state-of-the-art litigation support department that allows us to cost-effectively manage the vast quantities of documents and data required in civil discovery and complex trials.
While litigating cases and preparing for trial, we explore settlement options with clients because we understand that our clients’ time and resources are best spent growing their businesses. We therefore look for opportunities to mediate or use other forms of alternative dispute resolution where a matter can be resolved quickly and effectively, allowing our clients to focus their energies on their business and not on lawsuits.

Contact us for a no-obligation and confidential discussion about Litigaiton. (612-355-2200)

Elimination of Debt in Minneapolis, Minnesota

We recently ran an article regarding eliminating your debts and similar obligations without filing for bankruptcy.  Many readers called us with a variety of questions, some of which I want address in this follow up post. We are your Minnesota Debt Elimination Attorneys.

First of all, one of the most utilized services these days by our clients is attorney assistance with negotiation and elimination of credit card obligations.  The main question we get from clients is, “We don’t want to file for bankruptcy, but our debts far exceed our assets, the value or equity in our home is gone and we have thousands of dollars charged on our credit cards, what can you do to help us?”

My answer is that, over the past ten years we have been able to negotiate client’s debts with credit card companies down by approximately 80% of the total outstanding balance existing at the time you retain our firm.  For example, if you have a $10,000.00 credit card debt owing to Chase Bank, we have been fully and finally settling this type of obligation for approximately $2,000.00.  That is a saving of roughly $8,000.00 to you.

Eliminating Debt in Minnesota | Minnesota Debt Elimination Attorneys
The next question we get asked is “How does your negotiation actually work?” The concepts are employ is no different from our handling of complex business matter.  We take a hard negotiation position that has factual and legal basis and try to achieve the best result for you.  If we take the $10,000.00 Chase Bank example, once our client has stopped paying on the card due to his/her financial inability to continue to make payments (which are in many cases interest only, so the debt never gets reduced), Parker & Wenner, P.A., sends out a settlement offer (after meeting with our client and setting up a plan of action) to Chase offering 20% ($2,000.00) of the outstanding debt as a full and final settlement of that account.  In the letter we set forth the reasons that our client is unable to pay more, such as unemployment, health issues or overexposure to the real estate or other markets.

After receiving our settlement offer the credit card company or a collection agency engaged on its behalf, contacts our office regarding settlement of the account.  Typically, the settlement proposals from the credit card company start at a discount of 50-60%.  However, we have been successful in getting the discount up to 80-85% of the outstanding balance.  Once an agreement has been reached on the settlement amount ($2,000.00 in our example) the credit card company or its representative sends our firm a letter acknowledging same and requesting payment.  We confirm the settlement amount with our client and then send a final settlement letter to the credit card company accepting the settlement and providing payment instructions via automatic withdrawal from the client’s bank account.
We receive a confirmation letter when the payment is received indicating the matter is closed.

Finally, another important issue that gets raised is the potential tax liability for the settled or reduced debt amount.  The credit card company often sends a form 1099 to the IRS indicating the amount of the discharged debt.  The IRS will treat this amount as income unless the client can demonstrate that he or she was “insolvent” at time of settlement and is therefore exempt from tax under Section 108 of the IRS Code.  The IRS, pursuant to Section 108 does not tax the discharged indebtedness of individuals it considers to be insolvent; in other words when the individuals’ liabilities exceeded the fair market value of their assets immediately prior to the settlement date.  There are also other exclusions from income that may apply to an individual case, such as the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.  Consequently, with the help of a good CPA or tax preparer, clients who qualify as “insolvent” avoid any income liability to the IRS as a result of the settlement.

If you have any questions regarding debt consolation or negotiation, whether that debt was accumulated in the form of credit cards or other loans call us at 612-335-2200 for a free consultation.  Each situation is different and requires independent analysis and advice.

Financing Tools: Small-Company Offerings

One of the most common problems among start-up or small companies is access to financing. Normal bank financing is usually inaccessible to young companies possessing little or no history or requires personal guarantees from the principals of the company. If your company is facing this problem one solution may be to obtain capital or debt financing from private investors. Through such offerings your company can raise thousands to millions of dollars, providing short-term (usually 1-3 years) relief while your company gets on its feet and establishes the operating history required in order to obtain more traditional financing such as bank lines of credit.

Small Company Financing Attorneys MN

Before undertaking such private financing, however, you will need to ensure that you follow state and federal securities laws regulating the offer and sale of securities. Although securities laws may be intimidating, both Minnesota and US law seek to encourage business growth by providing exemptions to the more-strenuous reporting requirements, making small securities offerings relatively straightforward. Small offerings are regulated by the Securities Act of 1933 and certain federal regulations promulgated under the Act, particularly Regulation A and Regulation D. In Minnesota the offer and sale of securities is governed by Minnesota Statutes Section 80A and Minnesota Rules part 2875.

Depending on a number of factors your offering may or may not require the filing of your offering documents with the federal (Securities and Exchange Commission) and state (in Minnesota, the Department of Commerce) authorities. These factors include the amount of money to be raised, the number of investors anticipated, whether the investors are from Minnesota alone or from different states, and how sophisticated and/or wealthy the investors are.

In offering equity or debt financing it is important to draft certain documents that set forth the terms of the offering and disclose information about the company and the offering. The documents normally created in conjunction with small company offerings are a private placement memorandum, encompassing both detailed information about the company as well as the details and risk factors associated with the investment, a subscription agreement, the contract containing the terms and conditions of the sale, and, in the case of debt securities, a promissory note, the document embodying the loan.

Achieving success in a small business requires the diligent application of all available resources. The offering of securities may prove a useful resource for your company’s financing needs.

For small company financing in Minnesota guidance call us today at (612-355-2200)

If you own a business, it is likely you have one or more trademarks. The United States Patent and Trademark Office defines a trademark as being “a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others.” There is a parallel mark for services, called a service mark, but here I am calling both trademarks and service marks “trademarks.” In short, a trademark is any name or logo you use to sell your goods or services.  Given this definition, your business name, the name of products, and the names of processes and procedures might all be trademarks.

These trademarks are a valuable asset to your business, and they need to be protected. While there are common law protections for trademarks, the best way to protect your mark is to register it.  Registration occurs in two ways. If you are selling your products or services within a single state, then you should register the mark with the Secretary of State for that state. However, interstate commerce is becoming the standard, and if you are selling your products or services to people in more than one state using the mark you want registered, you should register the mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Trademark Attorney MN

If you register your trademark with the PTO, it will examine your mark to ensure that there is no “likelihood of confusion” with another trademark. This analysis looks at marks the same or similar to yours in the same channels of commerce. For example, if someone sells eyeglasses under a registered trademark, the PTO is unlikely to permit you to register a similar mark for sunglasses. If they find such likelihood of confusion, they will ask you to provide evidence showing why your mark is unlikely to be confused with another mark. This is often an arduous process, and we therefore recommend you have a trademark search done on your mark to ensure that no other person or company is using your mark or a similar mark. (In fact, we recommend that a trademark search be done on your marks to ensure you are not infringing on any other person’s trademark.)

If your registration is successful, then between the fifth and sixth year of registration you will have to file an affidavit with the PTO stating that you continue to use the mark.  Between the ninth and tenth year of registration, you will have to file another affidavit stating that you continue to use the mark as well as a renewal application with the PTO. After this, a renewal application and affidavit of use will need to be filed every ten years if you want to keep the mark registered.

Trademarks are a valuable asset to your business. As such, protecting them is important, and the best way to protect your trademarks is to register your marks. Please contact us for further information on trademark registration.

Trust Parker & Wenner with your trademark asset questions, guidance and leadership. Call today for a free consultation with a Trademark Protection Attrorney in MN. (612-355-2200)

Parker & Wenner  finance attorneys MN represent domestic and international clients in a wide variety of regulatory advice and financial transactions, including commercial lending, derivatives, equipment finance, leveraged finance, project finance, trade finance, structured finance and debt restructuring.  We mainly serve the company side of financial transactions for our firm’s corporate clients and entrepreneurs.  

Our finance lawyers’ broad experience exposes them to the full spectrum of legal and business issues that shape complex financing and investment transactions. They combine in-depth knowledge of various industries with financing skills to help structure, document and close domestic and cross-border transactions. We advise on a full range of secured and unsecured financings, including asset-based credit facilities, acquisition facilities, financial asset warehouse facilities, letter of credit and commercial paper.

Our litigation attorneys MN provide skilled representation in every aspect of equipment finance and manufacturing facilities.   In project finance, clients call on us for early project development matters related to bidding, contracting and regulatory work, structuring a project’s commercial contracts to support financing objectives, and for tax and local matters.  We are also experienced in representing clients in distressed debt situations – both on the creditor and debtor side.

For more information on our Finance practice please contact us at (612-355-2200) today.

Our practice covers all areas of international trade.  Parker & Wenner attorneys and staff, many of whom are also fluent in a  variety of languages, including Spanish, Russian and Polish, combine corporate, tax, litigation, intellectual property, employment, real estate, immigration and investment expertise to help our clients succeed in the following areas:

• Setting up representative offices, joint ventures, partnerships and/or wholly owned foreign enterprises
• Cross Boarder Mergers and acquisitions
• Import/export transactions
• Agency and distribution agreements
• Intellectual property rights protection
• Technology transfer, which includes licensing, all forms of intellectual property, as well as the filing and     registration of patent and trademark applications throughout the world.
• Labor issues
• Immigration – Bringing foreign personnel to the United States for employment. We work regularly with various     governmental agencies that handle visas, immigration and naturalization.
• Banking/finance issues
• Real estate issues
• Tax
• Litigation
• Creditor’s rights
• Translation services

Parker & Wenner attorneys have substantial experience advising our domestic and foreign clients.  Please contact Boris Parker at (612-355-2200) with any questions.

• Appellate
• Business & Corporate Law
• Business Litigation
• Civil Litigation
• Criminal Law
• Class Action
• Collections, Creditor Remedies and Debtor Rights
• Employment Law
• Family Law
• Immigration
• Intellectual Property
• International Business Transactions and Litigation
• Non-Profit Organizations
• Personal Injury
• Probate
• Real Estate
• Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

We provide complimentary case and situation reviews, and are happy to answer any law related questions you may have. We can be reached at (612-355-2200).

The “New” Rule in Residential Real Estate Transactions

“Caveat Emptor!” ­- “Let the Buyer Beware” ­- was the traditional rule in sales transactions.  The buyer had the burden of making sure that the item purchased was satisfactory to him.  Except in cases involving fraud, the seller would not be held liable for selling a defective product.  Much of that has changed with the development of the law of products liability, the institution of “Lemon Laws” for the sale of new automobiles (See Minnesota Statutes § 325F.665), and legislation to prevent consumer fraud (See Minnesota Statutes § 325F.69).  In Minnesota, it has now changed with respect to residential real estate sales, as well.

Effective January 1, 2003, a person who sells residential real estate property is required to provide a written disclosure to a potential buyer before a purchase agreement is signed.  The disclosure must include all facts known to the seller that could adversely and significantly affect an ordinary buyer’s use and enjoyment of the property or any intended use of the property of which the seller is aware (See Minnesota Statutes §§ 513.52 to 513.60).  This statute represents a significant departure from the earlier practice, which placed the burden on the buyer to inspect residential real estate to determine whether there were any defects to the property. Real Estate Attorneys MN | Minnesota Real Estate Attorneys

While the general disclosure requirement is broadly written, the law also includes numerous exceptions.  For instance, the seller is not required to inform the buyer that the real property was occupied by someone who was HIV Positive or who had AIDS, that the house was the site of a murder or suicide, or that the house may be haunted, among other things.  In addition, it does not require the seller to inform the buyer about any registered criminal offenders, including registered sex offenders, living in the area, as long as the seller informs the buyer that that information may be obtained from local law enforcement agencies or the Department of Corrections.  Also, the disclosure requirements do not apply to a variety of specific types of transactions, such as gifts, transfers between certain relatives, transfers to a government agency, or transfers pursuant to a court order. Finally, the parties may waive the disclosure requirements in a written agreement.

Although recent changes to the law, effective August 1, 2004, have broadened the disclosure requirements, the disclosure requirement itself is no longer a “new” law.  However, even though the law has been in effect for over two years, it is not a law that is well-known to the general public.  Many do not know of the disclosure requirements, the limits of those requirements, or that the requirements may be waived.  Whether you are buying or selling residential real property, an understanding of these requirements, among others, is necessary in order to protect one’s rights.

For a free no obligation real estate situation analysis, call us directly at (612-355-2201)